10 Simple Ways to Eat Clean & Save Green

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Hi Sweet Friends,

Ever since I started sharing my journey from Hot Pockets to whole foods, I’ve often heard that it’s difficult to afford a healthier lifestyle. I won’t argue with you there. Real food is pricier than processed food made in a lab or a factory. And you will certainly see a jump in the grand total on your grocery receipts. But over time you’ll get the hang of it, and I promise it will become more manageable. There’s always a silver lining, my friends — and the price “jump” can be more of a baby bunny hop.

Today I’m sharing my top tips for saving money on nourishing, plant-based foods. But before I dive in, I hope to inspire you with this one statement:

Do your best to invest in yourself today; your future depends on it.

Even on a limited income, we can each make small upgrades that have a massive impact on our health. And get this, your body will be so grateful that it will reward you tenfold. It will literally move mountains when you give it the slightest improvement. Now let’s get started!

Here are my go-to tips for nifty, thrifty plant-happy shopping:

1. Budget and meal plan. First step, set a comfortable budget. Then, examine your fridge and pantry. I bet you’ve got a lot of goodies in there. Next, map out your menu with my easy meal plan. Don’t skip this step, hot shot. Kitchen champions succeed not because they are the best of chefs, but because they plan their arses off. With more experience, you’ll get the hang of it.

3. Shop local: Farmers markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Farmers markets are a great place to buy organic foods on the cheap. In-season produce is almost always going to cost less, so try to be flexible and cook with the harvest. A CSA is another thrift-tastic way to eat with the seasons. If a CSA half-share seems like more veggies than you could eat or afford, see if a friend wants to go in on it with you. You can also freeze a portion of your haul for later or make a green juice! Here are some great websites for finding a market or CSA near you: Local Harvest, Eat Well Guide, Farmer’s Market Online.

4. Learn the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen: If you can’t afford a 100-percent organic lifestyle, don’t sweat it. Check out the Environmental Working Group’s lists to determine your priorities for organic purchases. They even created an iPhone app. Now that’s handy!

5. Stock up on the essentials during sales. I know it may seem like I’m giving you mixed messages, but if you arrive at the supermarket and there’s a big phat sale on organic bananas, snag those babies! They may not have been on your meal plan, but you can cut them up, freeze ‘em and pop them in your smoothies or soft serve ice cream later. The same goes for dry staples like grains and beans that aren’t going to go bad in your pantry.

6. Grow your greens. As you’ll see in the coming weeks, we’re starting our first vegetable garden (I’m so excited!). It’s exponentially more economical to grow your own food. Whether you live in a studio or a McMansion, there’s always room for a few pots of greens. A two-dollar packet of mixed lettuce seeds will support your salad habit for months. If you’re a city gardener, check out You Grow Girl, Garden Girl TV and Urban Homestead. For country folks like myself, check out The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible and Four Season Farm.

7. Cut back on restaurants. Aye, Chihuahua, do those restaurant bills pile up! Rather than escaping to the local Denny’s, make your kitchen the new hot spot. Fabu cookbooks, romantic dinners at home, potlucks, picnics and rowdy get-togethers all make dinner a family affair. I’m not saying that you should never step foot in a restaurant again; just try to limit your visits.

8. Make your food last and get creative with leftovers. Wash and store your produce in Debbie Meyer Green Bags (they extend life expectancy). And when your produce looks like it’s about to go south, resuscitate it in a delicious stew. How about leftovers? Don’t toss them. With a little TLC, leftovers can be transformed into fresh new meals. Batch cooking is another way to save time and money. Double or triple your favorite recipe and freeze the leftovers for a quick and healthy meal when you’re in a pinch.

9. Buy used. Buying a new juicer or blender may not be in your budget, but what about a used one? Craigslist, eBay — even your friends and family — might have an affordable, gently used model. In the meantime, you can still juice with any old blender and strainer (cheesecloth or nut milk bags work great!).

10. Skip the bells and whistles. If you’re like me, you definitely have budget leaks, aka knee-jerk spending at Amazon, Target, Starbucks and on all those raw food goodies. Identify where you can tighten your belt and invest in your company (you are the CEO of your health after all), not someone else’s. Don’t let transforming your plate be intimidating or cost prohibitive. As always, you don’t need to upgrade everything all at once. Make a plan and pace your bank account.

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As you can see, there are tons of ways to make a plant-powered plate work for your wallet if you’re ready to use a little elbow grease. When my food expenses start creeping up, it’s usually because I’m being a bit of a slacker, not because of my veg-inspired diet. I’m not planning my meals. My apron is dusty. The takeout menus get more play than my ukulele. Make new habits by trying one of my tips per week. You can do this!

I found this product a while ago. Works so well, I have bought some as gifts and will be buying more. We belong to an Organic Co-op..so keeping what we get fresh for as long as possible it important to us in our buying plan. I reviewed it for a blog I contribute too. Highly recommend it.

My top tip is to choose and plan where to shop. Combined with meal planning, this is a killer combo! I now travel across town once a week to shop at a store that is A LOT cheaper than the one that is closest to where I live. I’m saving so much from meal planning and shopping in this way!

Also, meal planning will help ensure that nothing goes to waste. That, and a juicer will make sure you get maximum nutrients for you bucks!

Everyone can grow sprouts, year round, no matter where you live. Just get in the routine of starting a new jar each day and then you’ll have a lovely jar full of sprouts each day. Keep in mind too that pulses can be not just soaked but actually sprouted. I don’t eat them raw even when sprouted but they cook up in no time and not only are less fartalicious but you lose a lot of the phytic acid, which is an anti-nutrient.

Hi Jeannie,
Advice how to start sprouting? I’ve seen from buying the kits to just soaking seeds or grains, and also found differing length of time for soaking. Any tips for an easy start on this?
Thank you much,
W

It’s almost unbelievably simple. Big things, like lentils, can soak for a while, little tiny seeds get rinsed and drained at least once a day. The little sprouts poke out and for lentils and other pulses, that’s a good time to cook lightly if you cook, or let go a bit longer if you want to eat raw. The little seeds sprout fast and it’s easy to eat a jar a day in our household, so I just keep starting a new jar every morning. Also good for fermenting if you do that!

Kyra, thanks, that is a very cool story and I’m glad you are movnig forward with this and having fun. It is amazing how it feels holding that book in your hands, isn’t it? Thanks a ton for the great comment and I hope you keep movnig forward. Any questions on anything as you run up against it, feel free to ask here or e-mail me. I tend to have opinions on things. (grin)

Fantastical tips girl!!
Adding to the grow your own tip the cheapest way to get a powerhouse of concentrated nutrients is homegrown sprouts!! I grow all my own and even take rhem when we travel
peace and raw health,
Elizabeth

I’m going to try that this fall when our local market shuts down. Sweet pea greens/ sprouts are now one of our weekly must have. This thanks to Kris and her advice in a post about juicing for newbies to start with mild greens including sweet pea. We were finally able to try them this month and they are sooooo good raw or juiced.

Hi Kriss! Thank you for you crazy sexy tips:-) do you cut your veggies before putting in those bags or you leave them whole? I just really struggle for room in my fridge. I also find even though my fridge is at correct temp if veggies go near the back of shelf like celery, as it has to to fit, it freezes it. Any fridge tips? xx

Some people pre-cut to save time which is totally fine. I don’t as I’ve read in many places that pre-cutting, washing etc too far ahead can reduce nutrients and best to do just before use. But if pre prepping works for you and means you’ll actually eat the healthier food then go for it. There’s lots of good info online for storing produce. Just do searches such as “best way to…(store or keep carrots fresh etc)” and you will find lots of info. Maybe Kris and her team will cover this in a future blog?

Hey Amanda
regarding your fridge freezing things, is your fridge an intergrated unit in your kitchen? I mean is it housed in some cladding to match the rest of your kitchen? If so, the problem is that the back of the fridge doesn’t have enough ventilation for the fan/vents to maintain the temperature and cool the whole fridge evenly. If it isn’t an integrated unit, it could be that the fan at the back or one of the filters is in need of a clean, or the back of the fridge is too close to the wall. Another common reason for this is if your fridge is overstocked or your thermostat needs to be replaced. Trial and error may help you with this.

Potassium isn’t as much a problem as sodium and protein are. Beans not only are a high protein food, as a seeds, but both contain significant amounts of anti-nutrients (these are reduced by about half by soaking/sprouting). Other than those two food categories, this seems like an almost ideal diet for you, or at least a good basis. You don’t say what stage you are, and your dietary needs will get adjusted, but really, this is too complex to ask random people on the internet. Talk to your nutritionist and doc, but veggies in general are your friends.

I cook with http://www.thefresh20.com for the vegetarian/vegan plan and it saves me tons of money. There is very minimal processed food (once in awhile pasta or couscous) and very healthy. Every week they send me a menu and I go shopping. It even tells me the approximate cost per item. I also save my beans and dried bulk items in glass jars.

Shop for fresh produce at ethnic groceries. Asian greens are less costly and more plentiful there than in a regular market. Also, I wash any conventional produce with water and a bit of white vinegar, in the hopes (belief) that the vinegar helps remove pesticide residue. What do you think?

This sounds crazy, but wash veggies in a squirt of dish detergent in a big bowl of water, then rinse. It’s routinely used as a natural pesticide, removes as much of the bad stuff as possible, and no, your food won’t taste soapy. But greens retain a bunch of pesticides and it isn’t really a bargain to buy non-organic.

I agree with all these tips! Going to the store with a plan, when you’re well nourished is so huge! I have also found that here in Phoenix area the bulk bins can be great but aren’t always the best deals, for instance I can usually find raw almonds for $4-5 a lb, but some other things are more than they are conventionally. Loved the tips! I recently started prepping most of my veggies within 1 day of getting home and have found that 1) they last longer, surprisingly! And 2) it cuts waaaaay down on cooking and juicing time. I usually cut them in the various ways I need and stick them in a ziplock bag with a paper towel in it. When the veggie gets used the bag gets washed and reused!

On the west coast we have a store called Fresh and Easy. They have a discount area for groceries that are about to expire. I shop that area first and stock up on the veggies& fruit I will need for the next couple of days. I also buy out whatever good quality meat they have. I can freeze the meat when I get home and thaw it the day I need it.

Hi Kris – I’ve been alkali zing for a few years now but am recommitting since reading your book. Here’s no denying its the closest thing to using the force in our galaxy! Quick qu – are the dirty dozen still dirty if you’re buying organic?
Thanks
L

Forget canned beans. A bag of dried beans usually cooks up to the equivalent of 6 cans–for the price of about 3! And quick-cooking methods abound on the Internet. NO MORE OVERNIGHT SOAKING. Cook up a huge batch of beans, portion them out into freezer bags (a can of beans usually equals abt 1 1/2 cups) freeze ’em to lay flat and you’ve always got beans on hand to start a great quick meal!

Great idea to buy and cook dried beans! You can also do this with rice and pearl barley. I use a large baggie to freeze them and with a ruler on the outside of the bag make depressions to separate the bag contents into four squares and freeze. When you are ready to use it, one quarter of the bag contents will break off easily, and the rest can remain frozen for next time. Saves time, space and $$$.

One of the local stores that has organic, has a senior day once a month and all the organic produce and everything in the bulk bins is 10% off. This is a great time to get nuts, seeds and grains that aren’t normally on sale. Also if you watch the prices on the things you eat, you can tell when it is a good buy.

What’s worse, in my opinion, is throwing out produce that’s become rotten only because I just couldn’t eat it all in a week! Not only do I plan (as recommended) I only purchase small amounts, that I know will be eaten within a few days. It’s a double whammy, spending extra on organics, only to have them wither away.

Thank you for always aconmodaticg my hectic schedule. I don’t like to change any appointments, especially with my dentist or doctor but sometimes it is necessary. You don’t put any additional guilt on me and that makes it so easy to work with your office. I have never experienced an unpleasant visit. The offer of the hand waxing, headphones, tv, beverages and cookies are appreciated. More importantly is the staff that continually impresses me with your courtesy and conversations. Great website!

1) Stick to the basics. Rice and beans might not be the sexiest of meals, but is hearty and filling and vegan and there are a million different ways to prepare it, especially if you read it as “grains and legumes.”
2) Frozen veggies.
3) Checking for discount produce. Oftentimes it’ll be bruised or past its “best buy” date (for, say, packaged greens) but is still ok.
4) Shopping with the sales. Since most grocery stores post their sales online, I try to meal plan around whatever fruits and veggies they’ve got discounted. This way I can still enjoy a variety of produce without paying full price.

One of my resources for affordable, organic food is Costco! The hubs and I shop there once a week, and our membership literally pays for itself. (the executive membership pays you a little bit back on everything you spend) I get giant bags of organic baby kale, big containers of organic lettuce and spinach, bags of whole grains, hemp and chia seeds, the list goes on and on. We are on a very tight budget, for me Costco is an invaluable resource.

Disclaimer: no, I don’t work there or own their stock! I just think people equate “big box stores” with evil. I wanted to remind everyone that a deal is a deal, no matter where you find it!

I do many of the things you mention here, and though it costs me more in my grocery dollar weekly to eat consciously, I spend far less than I used to on doctors and medicines. My local CSA charges me $31.50 weekly for a box packed to the brim with locally grown organic veggies, delivered to my doorstep – a bargain! My sister turned her yard into an edible landscape, and I garden with her. We just harvested our first homegrown organic carrots, which we grew in 2 pots, and I have an awesome photo to prove it. I know that as we all begin to embrace this way of eating and treating the earth, it will get easier and less expensive, not to mention healthier for all of us.

I love your site and have recommended it to many people I know who are looking to have a healthier lifestyle.

If you have the room, cut an inch off the bottom off the stems of your leafy green, put them in a glass of water like flowers, cover with a plastic bag and put them on the door if your fridge! They keep so much longer! I’ve even done this with broccoli!

My favorite is to buy onions, celery and mushrooms and use my mini food processor and mince separately and then freeze in my ice cube tray and then shake them into freezer bags. I have measured and each cube is exactly 1 tablespoon which means easy measuring for soups and stews or where ever you need minced veggies.

This also keeps me from losing space in my fridge and from going bad. I use them fresh for a few days but make sure I process the rest.

Love your tip about displaying beans, grains and spices in mason jars! It makes me so happy to open my pantry and see my lovely ‘collection’…when my food looks beautiful I can’t wait to get into my kitchen. Grains + Garden Greens makes for the best last minute summer meals!!

Our town has a lovely Farmers Market that just opened up for the season two weeks ago, and I am loving it! But besides it, I have asked around and found a farm that sells fresh, organic veggies year round.

My body is loving what your Crazy, Sexy plan is doing to it, Kris! I will be late to work rather than not take the time to make my morning green juice. 🙂

Would love to share this on FB and Twitter. For some reason it keeps telling me that I’m “not signed” in when I click your FB and Twitter buttons. (And yes, I am signed in to both my FB and Twitter accounts!). Thoughts anyone?

I know this is on the far out side of what most people would be comfortable with but honestly my husband and I went through a phase of dumpster diving! We are in Colorado and when we first moved to the expensive town we live in, we were really stretched. We are a fairly big family and absolutely believe that we are the CEO’s of our health. A friend gave us the idea (which was totally new to us!) and showed us the “ropes” and we really witnessed the amount perfection and waste that even natural foods stores hold and create. We would find about 30 to 70 pounds of (mostly) perfect organic produce, cheese, baked goods, and even beautiful flowers every time we went, which was about 2x’s a week. We would find 20 containers of say organic blueberries, 40 apples, 20 stalks of beautiful broccoli. I would freeze and can things and juice and make soup. We don’t do it anymore, but it was a great experience at the time that made us aware of another side of things that seemed good to understand. I know it became almost trendy for a while and even saw a documentary about people in NYC doling it! Now I do all the things Kris suggests, but unfortunately find the farmers market extremely expensive. We like to go to farms and pick our own food when in season and support a Colorado owned grocery chain that does a great job at buying Colorado grown organic produce and they price it well. Also finding wild growing edibles and fruit is a great way to go. Sometimes it’s good to think outside the “box”.

I second that Jessie. We didn’t dumpster dive for food, though we have been known to search for salvage to upcycle for furniture that way. But we have gone foraging a few times and one thing I have heard of recently is food swapping, so if you have some bulk you can swap it for something else you need through a bartering system. I tend to go for full organic as much as possible though some things I will sacrifice if needed for organic plant based foods and fairtrade, organic wholefoods where possible too.

Perfect timing for this article! My family and friends always say “I can’t afford to eat healthy!” But your article contained great suggestions. One thing I did recently was go directly to the factories of both Bob’s Red Mill and Dave’s Killer Bread (In Oregon). I got 25 lb bags of my favorites such as Rolled Oats and Whole Wheat flour. Dave’s had a great deal on their breads too so I bought a lot and stuck them in the freezer. I realize that not everyone lives close to these places but perhaps there are factories/farms that are near you that you all can check out.

I always shop the flyers before I make my meal plan and I always look for the discount produce bin. It’s usually 50% off and the produce has a couple days left! Love this post! When my friends ask me how I can afford to buy organic I say…
“I’m worth it!”

Charles Hubbell – No real clue what your favs are, but I know which ones are MINE!1. The three of you sitting and snmiilg in front of the log.2. You guys sitting in front of the log and tickling Carl.3. The two of you sitting, looking at each other and Kris is holding Nick’s head.Maybe I just like the log? Lol you two and three are amazing. Love the pictures! Can’t wait for next summer!

I wanted to see the pdf of the clean and dirty foods so I clicked on it. It took me to a place to download it. They wanted your email before you could download. And before you could even look at it to see if you wanted to get an app, they wanted to have you click on the app. So I clicked on the app to download it then it went to a screen where everything stopped and wouldn’t take any clicks so I never did get to view the dirty and the clean foods. Now they have my email address and I have nothing.

Whole foods are more nutrient dense and help you fill fuller in the long run. You also fill better and not so bogged down when you cut out processed foods that take much longer to digest. Thanks Kris for dispelling the myth that healthy food costs more. It’s an excuse to take control of your health

I agree planning is key and some healthy food is more expensive than less healthy food.

People who complain that eating healthy is so much more expensive than eating processed food should remember that calories are not equal. Compare the price and nutritional value for example a banana to that of a fast food burger.

Kris, this is a fantastically timed blog post! Thank you for giving us that local harvest website. I had no idea there were that many CSA’s in my area! I’m gonna try to convince my family to participate. I love the whole idea of it!

Great post this week, Kris! I think these tips can actually apply to just about anything you are trying to afford. They are universal, which I love. I would also suggest shopping at different stores. For example, I do my weekly grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. Trader Joe’s tends to be the cheaper of the two. However, for items they don’t carry, I go to Whole Foods. It’s a great way to save money and support multiple healthy grocers.

I save the “milky” looking crinkly produce bags and keep my greens in them but first I blow into the bag (with the greens in it) until it blows up like a balloon and then while holding the open end in my fist I squeeze the air out and quickly nip the open end closed. I may use an elastic or tie it closed. This replaces the oxygen with CO2 and so will slow down the oxygenation of the produce.

I bought two medium sized rectangular white plastic baskets with openings all around the sides (so i can easily see what is in them without having to pull it out every time), from the dollar store. These sit in my fridge on the top and second self where the air circulates the best and I keep my CO2-filled bags of greens in these baskets. These were hard to reach areas of my fridge and now I can just pull out the basket to see what is taking up the space, especially at the back of the fridge.

Yes, really great point! Finding ways to have fresh food last longer is a must to save money. If you can also get in the habit of saving scraps for soup broths (onion skins, peels etc) or juicing ( tougher asparagus and cauliflower/ broccoli ends) and what’s left for composting to add to your gardens (save on store bought) you’ll save even more.